Science says you should take that vacation now

Western culture has long honored the notion that work should come before pleasure—a vacation should, in theory, be the reward of many long nights at the office. But research suggests it’s time to stop always putting work ahead of fun. Chicago Booth’s Ed O’Brien and research assistant Ellen Roney find that people enjoy leisure just as much even when they know work will follow.

Most people expect difficult or boring tasks ahead will spoil pleasurable experiences. In a series of surveys, respondents consistently said they would get less out of leisure if work loomed.

A sample of new research exploring hormones and externalizing behavior in adolescents, source information and working memory, language exposure and brain development, and the gender-equality paradox in STEM… More